been his decision monday to an solve president obama of raising taxes on the middle class. romney promises the republicans he was the best man to make a case against president obama who he may desperately want to defeat. so far they're letting him down. here's what governor romney told cbs. >> the governor believes that what we put in place in massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the court's ruling that the mandate was a tax. >> for the record, that is not governor romney. that is his adviser. that is what he said on monday on msnbc, referring to it is a penalty. now let's fast forward you to what governor romney had to say regarding this. >> the chief justice in his opinion made it very clear that at the state level, states have the power to put in place mandates. they don't need to require them to be called taxesç in order f them to be constitutional, and as a result the massachusetts mandate was a mandate, was a penalty, was described that way

by the legislature and by me and so it stays as it was. >> joining me now joe watkins and "the washington post" deputy national political editor ann corn bloom. i have to apologize to make this clear. i'm going to be honest with you. i don't think people know where mitt romney stands on this. first for the record he said he technically did not agree on eric's first original take that this was a penalty. and then he fast forwarded that it's a tax. for clarification does mitt romney say this mandate is a penalty or a tax and why would it be different than what he adviser said on monday? >> advisers mean well. >> they're not paid to mean well. i'll have to call you out on that. >> call me out. >> let's scratch that out. >> he said it's tax. i think he made himself very, very clear when he gave that

interview on cbs. >> why didn't he say that initially? first he didn't say it. why didn't he immediately come out and say eric has it wrong, he's a nice guy, but i never said it's a penalty, he means well. >> he's human. candidates are human. everything they do is not perfect. they make mistakes sometimes. he's rectified it. he's done on c bbs, he's rectifd it. >> if we were throwing ç solveballs i would ask if he did. let me go to anne kornblut and say, anne, you're the journalist. >> it's going to be tough for this all to just go away. i do think obviously the candidate's word is the final word on what position the campaign is going to take on this. what remains to be seen is if they reconcile. now he's being accused of being

a flip-flopper and being held for what his very senior adviser said on this. i think they're also drawing a distinction between happens at the state level and what happens at the national level. that's a tough distinction to resume to a sound bite. i can see them continue dog that. the big picture effect of all this is it's going to be hard to run on health care. it's already going to be hard given what he did. now any attempt to create an ad, running against the obama care campaign, i think, has just gotten harder. >> what i find intriguing is you've got some conservatives. "the wall street journal" holding back nothing regarding governor romney. it was brutal to say the least, so he may be able to remedy this somehow with independent voters, but when your own people, your base comes out swinging like this at you, it cannot be ignored. >> well, that's right. and i mean if anything, they're the angriest because as the

journal editorial said, they see him squandering this historical opportunity to get his act together and go out there and win. so they're going to continue, i would expect, to beç demands f him to shake up the campaign. that is not mitt romney's style. but when you've got the base wanting him to challenge somehow they're going to have to pay lip service for the fact that they hear it, screwed up, and do things differently going forward. >> it's interesting you have bill crystal writing, criticizing mitt romney not on his individual mandate but the overall message on the economy. i think it was last week it was said sub, verb, economy. no matter what you wanted to talk about, he would pivot to the economy. bill crystal writes that his main campaign is obama isn't working. thanks, guys, but americans already know that. what they want to hear from the chamger is some understanding of why the president's policies aren't working and how mr. romney's policies will do

better. he can't give specifics because he knows that opens him up for fire, especially when it come dose mess tick programs which people greatly need right now. there you have an opening for democrats, chris, so surely you will capitalize on it. >> well, i think democrats in the obama campaign already are. i think the obama campaign has done a pretty good job at defining mitt romney much better than the romney campaign has. it speaks to a bigger problem and the bigger problem is they don't have a narrative message of where they're going to leave the country, whatç impact the policies will have. i think this is a mistake campaigns sometimes make. it's unbelievable that a presidential campaign is making this mistake. >> chris, if those mistakes are as glaring as you point out, we

can quickly point to a number of polls that still show this race is next and neck. albeit, the president is in office and his record stands an people have more to chew on regarding whether they're happy with the job he's doing. the bottom line is even with the glaring mistakes and missteps as you point them out as you see them, this is still a tight race. >> it is a tight race. part of it has do with the fact you have a tough economy. you have to run on your record, defend that record and this is not going to be a free record. listen, as bad as the romney campaign is, i do believe it's going to be a tough race, tight race all the way to the election. >> eric furn strom is the same guy who was on -- he gave republican challengers at the time and i'm sure democrats the famous etch a sketch line. believe this is the same guy. let me play it, please. >> at the end of the day it doesn't matter what we're calling this. we've been consistent about what it is. it's a penalty on the 1% who

aren't getting health care and who can afford to do it. contrast that with mitt romney. it's a tax, it's a penalty. he needs to figure out what it is on his hand. we're pretty clear on our end. >> i think he hit a reset button for the fall campaign. everything has changed. it's almost like an etch a sketch. >> it's like aç potpourri. eric is behind that and now he's behind mitt romney in the tax versus penalty. why are they not coordinated at this point? >> it's still early. when the convention comes about it's going to kick into high gear at that point. you can expect people from time to time make missteps, to say things that aren't 100% accurate. but i'm confident it's going to

be great race. >> is it a tax or a penalty? >> tax. >> you've got to your talking points. now you've got to give them to eric. thank you. president obama hits the road on his first bus tour of the campaign season and two republicans on mitt romney's vp short list are following the president hitting up the same two states president obama is visiting. plus, new calls for congressman joe walsh to resign after he doubles down on his controversial comments, slamming his opponent who's a double amputee iraq war vet. >> now i'm running against a woman who -- i mean, my god, that's all she talks about. our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about. >> first a developing story involving illinois congressman jesse jackson jr., a spokesperson now saying jackson's medical condition is more serious than they originally thought. they say he's currently being treated in an inpatient medical facility. they did not give specificç

details on his condition or where he's been treated. the office has repeatedly said he's suffering from exhaustion. you can always follow me on my twitter page @tamronhall. we'll be right back. have evidens my dad's a space alien. he speaks a weird language. [ gargling ] [ gargling ] he drinks green stuff. he says he's from albuquerque. i'm not buying it. i mean, just look at him. and one more thing -- he has a spaceship. [ whirring ] the evidence doesn't lie. my dad's an alien. [ male announcer ] the highly advanced audi a6. named to car and driver's 10 best. ♪ my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet. until i got my number. my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotics number. now i'm a believer. you'll be a believer, too.

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we're back with developing news. the president is headed to the rust belt. this two-day tour in ohio and pennsylvania is all about the president trying to improve his standing among white blue collar workers. in fact, during a stop in toledo earlier today, the president announced a new move by his administration to hold china accountable for unfair trading

practices, an important issue to voters in the industrial midwest. >> i know this. americans and american workers build better products than anybody else, so as long as we're competing on a fair playing field instead of an unfair playing field, we'll do just fine. >> nbc news correspondent kirsten welker joining us now from the bus towers, talking about an outsourcing of tours. obviously that plays into the president going after governor romney. apparently we've had a glitch with the audio. we'll catch up with her later. the president will arrive in erie county and then at 7:15 p.m. the president will be just outside of cleveland, ohio, in a county where he won ç69% of th vote. we've been able to work out this

technical thing. so kristin, what's the update? >> reporter: hi, tamron. sorry about the technical difficults. we're on a bus ride headed to parma, ohio, two hours east of maumee, which is, of course, wherthe president first spoke to voters here in ohio. the fact is president obama is really hammering mitt romney about use sourcing jobs. that's, of course, the popular line for the obama campaign, something they thing is gaining traction. the romney camp has pushed back against those allegations. in addition president obama has touted what he sees as one of his signature accomplishments, namely the auto bailout. that's something that really resonates with voters here in ohio, in the rust belt. one in eight ohio residents, in fact, works in the auto industry. so that's something that they care about.

and if you look at it, tamron, if grow back to 2009, the unemployment rate here in ohio was above 10%. if you take a look at it now, it's at 7.3%. so president obama touting some of those statistics as well today. so that's really the theme of this trip, vetting on the american worker. he also announced his administration was filing trade complaint against china. by the way, president obama won ohio and pennsylvania back in 2008. he's hoping to hold onto these two states, but heç needs to gn some ground on white working clachlts the rnc out with an ad today really hammering president obama, accusing him of broken promises and focusing on the in fact the unemployment rate nationwide ask above 8%. they say that he hasn't done enough to get the economy back on track. so those are some of the headwinds the president faces

here as he stumps and launches his first bus tour of the campaign season. >> kristen welker, thanks so much, kristen. he's getting company from two governors. they spoke in maumee, ohio, today moments before the president's arrival. the romney surrogates are shadowing the president's bus tour right through ohio. >> his presidency has been a losing hand for ohio and for america. and when he stands before the people of this country in this electi election, we should all recall the promises he made last time and the promises that are left unfulfill and broken. there's boston. of them. let me go through a few of them. i think we should dub husband tour the broken promises for the american middle class. >> he's been bad for america, bad for ohio. 40,000 fewer jobs than when he took office. average income has gone down $3,000. the list goes on and on and on. the bottom line is this.

we've had enough of broken promises. if you want good paying jobs, growing economy in america, you need to elect mitt romney. >> tomorrow the two will be in pittsburgh along with president obama. well, 200,000 peóp midwest are still without power today, day after the detroit area got pounded by heavy storms. on the east coast, the number of people without power dropping. not quickly enough. if you're one of thoels people entering the sixth day without power and the heat wave continues today with dangerous triple-digit heat index values in many parts of the country. nbc's john yang is live for us in chicago. >> reporter: hello, tamron. it's another day for the record books here in chicago. a little while ago the official temperature reading was 102. and that ties a record set for this date more than a century ago. as the nation celebrated its 236th birthday with fireworks,

across much of the country it was as hot as a firecracker. chicago had only its second triple-digit fourth of july on record. this bank thermometer hit 104 degrees. the official high, 102, tying a record set more than a century ago. >> we need to protect ourselves and those who are at greatest risk from heat related illness this summer season. >> we're tough, but this one -- this one -- this one is a little more than we're used to. >> reporter: lake michigan beaches were jammed but water temperatures in the mid-70s didn't offer much relief. with the nation's midsection in the grip of a massive hot air, excessive heat warnings continue. in des moines, people tried to have some holiday fun, despite the blistering çheat. >> too hot. but we're having a good time. >> reporter: st. louis hit triple digits for the seventh straight day.

the longest streak in more than 50 years. some efforts to beat the heat had tragic results. at least three children died after being electrocuted in lakes in missouri and tennessee in two separate incidents. work crews in areas hit hard by last week's powerful storm spent the holiday removing downed trees, clearing the way for utility workers to restore power. >> we usually work 16 hours. we extended it to 19 hours pause we felt sorry for people who were without electricity. >> i'm dying to go home. i'm so tired. >> we've lost everything. we've lost everything that required refrigeration. >> reporter: if the temperatures continue to climb, we could close in on chicago's all-time record of 105. and, tamron, there's no relief in sight for another day at least. the excessive heat advisory is

in place until friday night. tamron? >> all right, john. thank you so much. coming up -- >> early on we heard what the strategy was. it was kill romney. >> reporter: ann romney talk about kill and destroy when it comes to beating her husband. we'll play more of what she had to say. plus -- if you listen closely, there's ç song playing in the background. we'll tell you why the marine corps band may wish they hadn't played it at president obama's fourth of july celebration. we'll given you a little more of that. it's one of those things we probably thought you should know. hundreds of thousands of firework watchers in san diego got a surprise yesterday after a glitch caused not one, not two, but all of the fireworks to go off at the same time.

the show, which was supposed to be 15 minutes long, well, it lasted 15 seconds. the event's producers are investigating the mishap. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. brian mcallister's great grandfather started it in 1864. its tugs helped big ships nash gate to shore. it survived family drama, near bankruptcy and strikes and is about to pass to family's fifth generation. a little snack. on a wednesday. at 2 am. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal.

legalzoom has an easy and affordable option. you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support, backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. now back to decision 2012. mitt romney's so-called secret weapon. his wife ann is backing him. she blasted the strategy that she was referring to as a vicious and personal assault on her husband. in fact, here's what she had to say. >> early on we heard what their strategy was. it was kill romney. you know, that was their memo from their campaign. it's like not when i'm next to him, you'd better not.

sabrina has more. what is she referring to? >> apparently they said the strategy would be to kill mitt romney, but think that the obama campaign disavowed that report.ç >> none of them were identify but nefrms an romney takes issue with it. how do you compare this with anything you even heard from michelle obama and laura bush on the kpanl trail to be so direct in this way in this interview? >> well, i think she's just responding to a series of attacks against her husband. if you look at the probe on the super pac parties usa action, they've issued pretty negative adds against mitt romney that the romney campaign got very

personal. with respect to the obama campaign, i think they've branded mitt romney as out of touch and what an romney is trying to do is respond to that and defend her husband because at the end of the day he's struggled to connect with voters. the strategy that mitt romney doesn't play to the american person, that's what they're defending. >> i want to play the part where -- let me play ann romney, please. >> it makes you recognize they are going do everything they can to destroy mitch. so, you know, they're trying to portray him in a light that extremely wrong. >> i get the portion of her saying that it's completely wrong. obviously she will see him in a different light than certainly the people with the obama team. but with this said, she said they going to try to destroy him. you bring up the super pac sup porgt president obama. last i checkedç the super pac

supporting mitt romney desecrated newt gingrich. they destroyed him and they're not blowing kisses at president obama. >> absolutely. i think that's the nature of super pacs. you've seen very negative ad campaigns throughout the election cycle. i think for the obama campaign it's fair to go after mitt romney's record in massachusetts and at bain capital, especially because mitt romney is the one who's touted his private sector background as a key component to what would make him a better president than obama. so i think that it's fair game. i don't think it's fair for ann to say the attacks or personal. think it's her trying to defend her husband. >> politico had an article called her secret weapon. that's also been said about michelle obama, her approval rating, certainly the highest it seems in washington these days. do we know about the strategy? >> i think what they've seen is

she has more of an ability to connect with voters, especially women. you're going to see them make up that gender gap that everyone talks about by using ann romney and having her opening up about their personal life. >> interesting story, sa brie nachlt thanks so much. i greatly appreciate your time. have a good one? thank you. you too. coming up the judge sets george zimmerman's bomd at $1 million. will he be ashl to portfolio that money? plus, a story for the ages. a lifeguard rushes in to save the man who is çdrowning. the lifeguard ended up losing his job. >> i was prepared for it. i had my morals intact over my job. no. it comes with a hat. see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but... [ man ] there's never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn't it?

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welcome back. the obama campaign is calling

his two-day bus tour "betting on america." it has three themes, economy, in-sourcing versus outsourcing and accounts. the obama campaign is also released a new ad focusing on those accounts. >> he needs to come clean about where that money is and why it's there. >> i don't have a problem with people making tons of money, but there are questions raised like why are you keeping your money offshore, right? nbc's contributing editor joins us now. they wonder if they stole the thunder that comes from this line of attacks on romney. we certainly know they're weight for his tax returns but there are lots of questions about where he's placed his money. >> it's politically damaging when you're talking about

somebody holding swiss bank accounts or accounts in the cayman islands or bermuda. most americans can't relate to that or they'll tell you it's something that's nefarious. my only account of it campaigning from reading john grisham's, "the firm." they might be asking, well, what is he actually?xhiding? what -- why is he putting money into those types of accounts? so that is the political challenge that romney had and why the obama campaign might think it's a political gold mine for them. >> obviously romney says everything he's done is legal. it goes to your point of what is he hiding. but it goes back to the theme, betting on america. if he's not doing anything nefarious or el lyle, it

certainly gives you the impression you're not betting on the home team. no matter how the romney team tries to spin that, he was not behind the bailout in the form as it existed and saved jobs. >> right. tamron. it's important to note that president obama didn't talk about these offshore accounts in his campaign event in ohio today but what he did talk on had to do with the outsourcing claim, noting that bain capital under mitt romney's leadership invested in companies that outsourced to india and china and really trying to draw the dichotomy and the contrast between that type of move and president obama to rescue the auto industry. >> what's interesting is you had some who said this would not be effective, but the polling shows that in the midwest, in the rust belt, that the questions regarding romney's tenure at

bain, certainly at least as it's been presented by president obama's team, it's resonated, that there's a concern there. obviously you don't have a crystal ball here, but might this be effective when you're talking about outsourcing and certainly people have a concern that their job has gone to somewhere that they'll never meet or know and it's out of state. >> right now he's in ohio. pennsylvania tomorrow. these types of attacks on bain capital, mentioning cayman islands, offshore accounts in bermuda and switzerland, this is to go straight to the people in the midwest. as my colleague chuck todd has pointed out, mitt romney has to win one of the states in the midwest, particularly ohio. if barack obama wins ohio, it going to be very, very difficult for mitt romney to get 270 electoral votes and this is exactly where it goes. >> you and your team have pointed out eight of the ten

battleground states have an unemployment level that's lower than the national average. some of the local governors might take credit but it's lower in those key states. it's all very interesting. mark, thank you. very interesting. new calls for tea party congress 9-9-9 plan joe walsh to resign after he doubles down. he thinks she talks about her war record too much. yesterday he reiterated what he said about tammy duckworth. he said it on sunday. >> i'm running against a woman who, my god, i mean that's all she talks about. our true heroes, the men and women who servedç us, that's t last thing in the world they talk about. >> that's one of the leading veterans groups. quote, telling a veteran to shut up on the fourth of july is beyond the pale. e we are past the point of

calling on joe wham, the apologize. he should step assigned stop embarrassing the policies of america. joe needs to apologize oet a lot of things. he was also involved in this child support issue. it was later dismissed but his ex-wife made claims that he wasn't paying child support. that lawsuit she filed was eventually dismissed. he's had his name attached to strength things. this goes beyond strange. to you this is offensive. >> this is crazy. i mean he ran against melissa bean last cycle. somehow he came into congress -- i'm not quite sure the republicans actually support him. he's sort of a swing character. several months ago he was talking with david, very casually he said tammy duckworth got shot out of a helicopter, what else did she do. six weeks later he decides he

wants to challenge her to a die bought while she's on military. most people don't know it but she's still a lieutenant colonel in the national guard. someone who knows tammy, she double know about it. the only one talk about her service all the time is joe walsh. the fact she has no legs it's very noticeable and it's who she >> it's part of her life and her story. he says in a statement, of course, tammy duckworth is a hero, just like every man and woman who's worn the uniform. however, unlike most vets i've had the honor to meet since my election in congress who rarely if ever talk about their service or their combat they've seen. that is darn near all of what tammy duckworth talks about. might he be intimidated that she was willing to go and fight for her country wounded, devastating wounds, and is still there for her country? >> yeah. look. that's so offensive because joe walsh, i don't think he's -- i don't think he played dress-up

on halloween as a mill tier when he was a kid. the guy has no idea what it means to be in the military or what it means to serve. he has no idea what that sacrifice means. i think what's most important about tammy is she's still serving and she certainly has mine. tammy's the real deal. she was shot down in a helicopter in iraq. the only reason she lived is the rpg insinged her wounds so she didn't bleed out. she's the real hero. when i had to go back to iraq last year i wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. i didn't agree with the kwar. i have a very nice job and when you look at tammy duckworth and she's willing to go back to iraq with no legs even today, you have to ask yourself inside like i did, who am i not to go back if tammy duckworth does, and i think that's the basis of this and he needs to resign and stop @&h(lc% >> as he said, he believes she's a hero, he's sticking by his

words that she talks about her combat service too much, but he's apparently received quite a few anything tichb comments at least on his facebook pachlkt we'll see what hiss next move is. coming up, george zimmerman's bond is set at $1 million but h le be able to post the money he needs to be released? we'll get an update for you. there's a lot going on. here are some things we thought you should know. >> okay, beyond all the chitchat you hear, do you hear the song the marine corps was playing? apparently this was at the president's fourth of july celebration. it's ron atkins "it's america." it's being called an odd moment because mitt romney place it. once was not enough for vermont senator pat leahy. he will make a second appearance in batman this summer, the dark

knight rides. he shared the stage with the joker last time. he will donate any money for appearances to the library of his home state. according to "the hollywood reporter," michelle obama is hosting a fund-raiser with gwen stefani. those are some of the things we thought you should know. a speed bump! [ wife ] a beached whale! lawn clippings! a mattress. a sausage link. mermaid. honey!? driftwood. come on, you gotta help us out here a little. [ male announcer ] febreze eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ [ male announcer ] febreze. eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪

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will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. a judge in florida has ruled that george zimmerman can be released on a 1 million dollar bond while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge. zimmerman had his bond revoke last month after the prosecutor told the court zimmerman and his wife mislead the court about their financial situation. he said he tried to manipulate the system but he's granting the

he said paying for this new bond is going to be difficult. it means that zimmerman's not getting out of jail any time soon, tamron. >> was there reaction from the martin family? obviously they've had concerning about zimmerman. >> reporter: right. >> what they say, his lies in court, so on and so forth. >> reporter: well, just recently a statement was released by their lawyer, benjamin crump, the lawyer if trayvon martin's family who said the family would prefer zimmerman remain in jail until the hearing. so this is clearly a charged case and with the revelation

that zimmerman had allowed his wife to mislead the court about his finances, the pressure in this case and the stakes went way up, tamron. >> all right. thank you so much, jamie, for your the live report. we'll see if mr. zimmerman is able to post that bond. as you pointed out, 10%, $100,000 is needed there. thank you. a boating tragedy tops our story. three children died when a yacht capsized in the waters off new york last night. all 27 passengers went overboard and nearby boerts pulled the survivors from the çwater, but rescuers later found the children on the submerged boat. the children were a 12-year-old boy and two girls age 11 and 8. the captain blame as rogue wave on that accident. documents released by wikileaks, the so-called syria files, over 200 e-mails. wikileaks founder julian asaid t

will embarrass syrian. arrests led to the arrests of six suspects. the preplanned operations took place across several locations across the city. they say they were not linked to the upcoming oh lem pick games. >> next, a lifeguard rushes in to save a man who's drown bug he ends up fired because his boss said he broke a company rule, he's not to leave the beach zone assigned to him. just in the past few minutes we receive and update on the lifeguard. we'll give that to you next. you can join our facebook page at face boom.com/newsnation. what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪

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you, of course, can join the newsnation on our twitter page. it's @news nation. a lot of you were fired up about

joe walsh saying tammy duckworth, the veteran, a double amputee talks too much about her combat service for this country. gwynn douglas says she doesn't bring it up, referring to duckworth. we do, the media, everybody but tammy. she doesn't have to say it. she shows it every day, meaning the devastating wounds she suffered while serving for this country. a lot of you are fired up. that is one ofç the more tame tweets we received criticizing congressman walsh. dime now for a "newsnation" gut check. a florida lifeguard lost his job responding to the call of duty. he saved a swimmer but couldn't save his life. mark potter with how all this went down in florida. >> reporter: 21-year-old tomas lopez is a lifeguard whose job it is to save lives. on monday he said he was fired after trying to save someone who was drowning. a stranger walked up and asking

for help and he jumped out of his lifeguard chair. >> i was on stand and someone came up to me and said someone was drowning. people were screaming. >> reporter: he ran past the green flag to a location several hundred feet away. there a man was struggling in the water in an unguarded section of the beach where a sign said swim at your own risk. >> on the radio i heard tommy saying i'm going for a rescue but it's out of our zone, and then our manager matt, matt williams, he was telling him, don't go. just call 911. >> reporter: when lopez arrived at the scene, beachgores pulled him out of the water. >> i put him in a recovery position and had a nurse come to help me. when he got back to his chair he feared he was in trouble. i thought i'm going to lose my job, aren't i. >> reporter: that is exactly what happens. jeff ellis management, the company used outside hallandale beach used to manage their lifeguards fired lopez for

leaving his assigned area andç not -- >> i was prepared for it. i had my morals intact. >> reporter: he said he knew the incident wasn't in his zone but he felt like he had to do something. nbc news spoke with the lifeguard management company where president jeff ellis said we need to know the exact facts of what happened. once this investigation is complete, if we did something inappropriate, wi will make it right. that including offering him his employment back if he was terminated in haste. several other hallandale lifeguards have quit in protest over the incident. >> if that was my family right there, i would go for them too. >> i'm not going to sit there and watch someone drown. that's our job. we're lifeguarding. >> reporter: they say we take the safety to all visitors to our beaches very seriously. whether they're in a protected area or unprotected area, we believe aid must be rendered. >> so only moments ago our bc station reporting that the

company offered lopez his job back. he declined their offer. what do you think? should he have been fired? take a look what the "newsnation" is saying about tuesday's "gut check." we asked is it a good idea to make all drivers carry breathalyzers? i missed that one. i wasn't here. 13% agree. 86% of you disagree. and eddie de la cruz said now the government has overreached, but we should put them on guns and rifles here in america. i'll be honest. dmoijt what that means. that does it for this edition of "newsnation." thanks for joining me. tomorrow, the junsç job report will be released. we'll certainly have a lot of job insight. this is only one of four more unemployment reports that will be released before the presidential election. "the cycle" is up next. they have names like idle time books and smash records

and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express.

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i'm krystal ball. here's wa's going on in "the cycle" today. play ball. we are officially launching the start of our real 2012 campaign right here on "the cycle." president obama is due to speak. we'll bring it to you live. >> i'm steve cokornacki. >> i'm s.e. cup. it leaves another five troops in afghanistan. they're turning on their coalition trainers in the guest spot. the u.s. soldier who worked with afghan security forces. >> i'm toure, and there are two things you're not supposed to talk about in polite competition, faith and politics but we're not polite on "the cycle."

>> all that plus my thoughts on the state vowing to refuse billions of dollars. how long is that going to start. "the cycle" for thursday july 5th starts right now. hey, guys. nice to see everybody. did you have a nice forth? absolutely. >> i have some housekeeping if you doend midnight. >> of course. >> in the interest of becoming better pundits we've deviced a system where we have a swear jar ofe come up with a cliche jar. we've come up with some phrases we hate hearing. spiking the football. i'll violate this for sure. doubling it dourngs walking it back. game change. if either of us, any of us say this, we have to throw a dollar into thech